A performance analysis for trellis coded hybrid-ARQ protocols

A method is described for modifying trellis coded modulation systems for use in type-1 hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocols. The difference in the metrics between the surviving and the nonsurviving paths throughout the trellis can be used to determine the desirability of retransmission requests. Bounds on the reliability and throughput performance of the resulting error control scheme are analytically derived for both additive white Gaussian noise channels and multipath fading channels. Simple examples are included to illustrate the achievable gain compared to ordinary forward-error-correcting trellis codes.<
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